Lyons Surfing ($6.50) caught a winning wave in deep stretch in Buffalo Raceway's $21,918 Open Pace on Saturday afternoon, May 31 and beat Melanion N by a neck in 1:55.1 over the 'good' track.
Arriving from Pocono Downs, Lyons Surfing was assigned the outside seven post for his Buffalo debut. With a mild leave attempt off the starting gate, Lyons Surfing and driver Jim Morrill Jr. were able to tuck into the fourth position as Egomania (Joseph Chindano Jr.) set the fractions of :27.4, :57 and 1:25.1.
In the drive to the wire, Melanion N (Drew Monti) was first-over while Lyons Surfing had to tip three-wide in pursuit of Egomania. It appeared Melanion N had the upper hand in mid-stretch as Egomania tired, but Lyons Surfing got one final burst nearing the finish line to capture the victory by a neck over Melanion N, with Egomania three-quarters of a length back in third.
Trained by Gareth Dowse and owned by P T Stable of Brick, New Jersey, Lyons Surfing (Stay Hungry-Surfside Sexy) earned his seventh victory in 15 attempts this year and lifted his seasonal earnings to $90,811. The five-year-old gelding's 17th career win put his lifetime bankroll over the $400,000 mark.
Brett MacDonald showed the way on the driving side of the ledger with three wins while Monti, Morrill Jr. and Kyle Swift each doubled. Candace Brandstatter-Hall and Chris Petrelli both had two victories on the training side.
Racing will return on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., with a 14-race card. The New York Sire Stakes will arrive for the first time in 2025 with a $119,700 USD event for the three-year-old colt and gelding pacers. There will also be a pair of $20,000 USD Excelsior Series events.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)